Feisty French justice minister ruffles feathers

PARIS, Sep 9 (Reuters) Appointed to drive President Nicolas Sarkozy's tough law-and-order agenda, French Justice Minister Rachida Dati has made a hit with voters with her direct, hands-on style but has alienated many in the legal establishment.

Dati, the first woman of North African origin to run a major French ministry and seen as an icon of the Sarkozy era, has ruffled the feathers of many judges, lawyers and sections of her own administration.

The departure of two top officials last week sparked a reshuffle within Dati's private office and revived doubts about the ability of a political novice to push policy changes past tough judges' unions and staid ministry mandarins.

''There is a threatening, heavy, atmosphere, a climate of fear,'' the daily Le Monde quoted a former member of Dati's office as saying. To date seven senior staff have quit their posts since she took office in May.

''She has a form of brutality which is worrying, in addition to a confusion about the substance of dossiers,'' an unnamed staff member told the paper.

Patrick Gerard, who replaced the first head of Dati's private office at the ministry earlier this summer, dismissed the furore, saying some of the staff who had left were simply not cut out for the job.

''Her authoritarian character is a myth. She is demanding with others, as she is with herself,'' he told Le Monde.

PROSECUTOR SUMMONED Since her appointment, the photogenic Dati has adorned the front covers of news magazines, and polls show strong support for the 41-year-old and her conservative policies.

And this is despite the serial defections from her office, her sparring with judges' unions over her crime bill and drugs charges brought against two of her brothers, news given extra piquancy by her steps to toughen sentences for repeat offenders.

Dati put legal noses further out of joint last month when she summoned a prosecutor to the ministry to explain alleged criticism he had made of her minimum sentences policies.

Unions saw this as intimidation and, in an extremely rare move, the Higher Judicial Council (CSM), the disciplinary body for law officers, on Friday sought a meeting with Dati to discuss the controversy.

Despite her difficulties, Dati has retained strong support from Sarkozy, for whom she remains a potent symbol of the multi-ethnic meritocracy he says he wants to foster, though some observers say she must heed her critics.

''The minister's detractors denounce her confusion of authority and authoritarianism, her lack of knowledge of the slowness of the judicial machine, her political inexperience and above all the brutality of her methods,'' the Nouvel Observateur news weekly wrote in its latest edition.

''If Rachida Dati continues to listen to no one, despite her popularity she will be judged harshly by the judicial world.'' REUTERS PD BST1515